


Our Path

by DemonsWatchYouSleep6, Sissytobitch10seconds



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Death, Dreams, F/F, F/M, Family, Fighting, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Greek and Roman Mythology - Freeform, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Marriage, Quests, Sequel, book three
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 01:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15353085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonsWatchYouSleep6/pseuds/DemonsWatchYouSleep6, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sissytobitch10seconds/pseuds/Sissytobitch10seconds
Summary: Fred and Madeline are engaged to be married soon, though something isn't quite right back at home.





	1. Dreams and Disappearances

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to the Mostly Normal series! This is the third work in the series. @hermionegirl13 is in Bold and @Sissytobitch10seconds is in normal text. This book is dedicated to Mochi-chan, who was ecstatic about Fred and Madeline's engagement.

Fred slumped against his fiance's shoulder, exhausted from working with the new recruits. Madeline smiled down at him. "Tired dear?" she asked.

Fred nodded and then looked up at her and pouted as she ignored him. When he whimpered, she giggled and leaned down to kiss the son of Athena.

**"You're just begging for attention, aren't you Fred," she winked at her fiance with a smile. "Well, it's working. Why don't you take a nap? I'll take it from here."**

**Fred tried to protest, but Madeline was stubborn. Finally, Madeline forced him to the bedroom to take a nap. He went reluctantly.**

**As soon as Fred got to his bed, he crashed, slipping into demigod dreams. And boy, were they demigod dreams.**

_Fred felt himself_   _drifting through something that seemed to be the consistency of clouds. He floated for some time before he crashed down onto the earth, though he noticed that he was no longer human, but rather an owl._

_As he swooped down and captured a vole within his hands, his head darted about, looking for anything else. When he spotted her, his heart leaped for joy. On the ground was a small mouse, she was completely two different colors._

_Fred spread his wings and swooped down to catch the multi-colored mouse, the vole having disappeared._

**_The mouse squeaked in fear and scampered away before Fred could catch her. Fred hooted in frustration and swooped after her._ **

_Fred landed on the ground, his claws turned to feet as they touched the soft soil, he looked up and saw the mouse, somehow in the tree. He sighed and walked over to her, "Hey Maddie," he whispered, bringing the small animal down to the ground._

**_The mouse blinked. "Fred, what are you doing?" she squeaked in a very Madeline-like voice._ **

**_Fred grinned. "Bringing you back down," he said. The mouse-Madeline rolled her eyes._ **

**_"Set me down so I can change back," she squeaked. Fred did so._ **

_When both of the demigods were on the ground, they fell into an embrace with each other. Fred grinned as he stroked his fiance's bubble gum pink hair. They stayed like that for what felt like forever for two very ADHD demigods. When they finally separated, they began to walk off into the woods that surrounded them, hand in hand, as they always did._

**"Fred?"**

**Fred jolted awake. He was crashed on his bed face-down. He rolled over and blinked.**

**"Fred, you're awake," said Reyna in a businesslike tone, "Good. It's almost dinner time."**

**"Already?" Fred sat up and tried to fix his hair. Reyna nodded. "Scipio's waiting just outside the barracks," she said, "I can take you if you're worried about being late."**

**Fred shook his head and then looked around the bedroom, still feeling as if he were gliding through the air. He raced into the kitchen and tugged on a pair of worn shoes, seeing no sign of his fiance. He ran out of the door and bolted for where they were having dinner, he smiled as he saw Reyna follow behind him.**

**Once Fred was seated with Madeline and a couple of the other demigods, Reyna stood. " _Senatus Populusque Romanus,_ my friends! Let us begin!"**

**The _aurae_ started bringing out food. Fred's meal was his favorite: roast beef. To drink he got a Coke, which was also his favorite.**

The doors of the hall swung open and several familiar-looking demigods ran in, heading towards the praetor table. "We have come with bad news!" the voice echoed through the hall as now everyone was silent.

Madeline stood and stared at the demigods, she then removed herself from the table and walked over to the oldest looking one, "Rio? What's going on? Where's Elliot?" she asked with a small voice, fearing something had happened to her younger brother.

**Rio lowered his head, his red hair falling in his face. "He disappeared with Quinn a few days ago," he said in an equally small voice, "we don't know where they went."**

**Nora, who stood next to Rio with a troubled look on her face, sighed. "I've looked everywhere," the twelve-year-old daughter of Janus said, "even in the woods. They're just _gone_."**

**Reyna furrowed her brow. "Is this the bad news you came to share?" she asked.**

**Rio looked up. "Um," the sixteen-year-old said, looking at Nora for support.**

**"There is more, this is not the first disappearance that has happened. Over the past few weeks, more and more campers are disappearing, they go into the strawberry fields and then n-never come back," Nora said, stuttering slightly.**

**Reyna's brow furrowed, and she turned to Frank Zhang who was sitting next to her at the praetors' table. "What do you think, Frank?" she asked.**

**Frank hummed. "I honestly don't know," he said, "this is very puzzling. But why come to us with this news, Rio?" he asked the son of Janus.**

**Rio bowed his head again like he couldn't bear to continue. Nora took a deep, shaky breath. "Because, because we don't know where else to go," she said all in a rush, "C-Chiron's...disappeared too."**

**A shocked silence met these terrible words. Then, Madeline jumped up from her chair. "No!" she cried, "He can't be."**

Rio took in a shaky breath and looked at his sister with apologetic eyes, "I haven't seen Elliot or Quinn in a long time, we think they disappeared as well."

Madeline shook her head as she sank back down into her chair, Lonna hitting the metal bench. She had already lost one of her siblings, even if it was just for a short time period. Fred stood next to her and began to rub soothing circles on her back.

Reyna took a deep breath and then stood, looking to the table that contained the rest of the strategists, then to Fred. "I want all of you to think of the soldiers that we could spare to go to Camp Half-Blood. Soldiers posted around the area should be informed of this." As she spoke, people stood and left to do the job they were assigned to, food left half eaten on the table.

Rio and Nora walked over to their sister in a trancelike state, making Fred jump before both of them hurried away with the sobbing daughter of Janus.

Fred rushed off to join the others that were preparing for the war plan, the entire way his heart beat faster than it ever had before. His feet had mud coating his sneakers as he finally got to the tent where they were keeping all of the other kids.

"Fred, you must come over and help us decide on who to send to Camp Half-Blood," a small girl by the name of Nonna said. Fred nodded and walked over to the rest of his peers. He pointed to several different locations on the map of where they should put sectionals for maximum safety, if Chiron really was gone, then they all were in a heap of trouble.

"I think we should contact Joe and Marvin, they're good Watchmen. Send them to CHB. Annabelle and Molli should go with them, they are both very good at keeping the boys in line," Fred spoke quickly as he listed off the people he thought should be sent Eastward.

Minerva raised her hand, causing Fred to look at her, "Shouldn't you go back as well, sir? I mean we should send at least one person who can think efficiently back down to that  _graceus_ camp." Fred shook his head and looked at the girl. She was a brilliant girl, as was her namesake, but she never seemed to understand that the Greeks were no longer the enemy.

Fred shook his head and looked at her, "I need to stay here with my fiance. If anything were to happen to her again, I would be devastated. But if she were willing to go, then I would be off in a heartbeat."

Several of the other demigods rolled their eyes and then went on further to address more pressing issues, such as why were these demigods disappearing? If someone was taking them, then who was it?

When Fred finally returned home, Madeline was curled up on the couch with a pillow shoved against her chest. She smiled softly in her sleep as Fred ran his hand through her pink hair, happy that she was still okay.

As his hand reached her tear stained cheeks, she roused from her sleep, "Fred?"

"Yes, my love?" Fred responded kissing her forehead as a symbol of how much she cared for and cherished her. She smiled and leaned into his touch, giggling slightly.

"Can we go check up on the camp? I want to make sure that the rest of the campers are okay," Madeline said, her multicolored eyes welling up with tears as she thought of her missing brother and his best friend.

Fred hummed and nodded. "We actually talked about that at the meeting. We're holding a briefing if you want to come as one of the soldiers," Fred offered, happy that he would be able to do his job and be with his girlfriend. Madeline nodded and then rose off of the couch, heading for their shared bedroom.

The pink haired girl flopped down onto the bed and then buried her head underneath the covers. Fred smiled and walked over to his fiance before he returned to the guest room, since the dorm was originally meant to hold two people in separate bedrooms, he glanced in and saw that Nora and Rio were both sound asleep.

Fred laughed a little when he saw the wall of extra pillows that lay in between the two siblings. They shifted and Fred held his breath scared that he had woken them up, even though they were not young enough to Madeline and his children, Fred always thought of them as if they were his kids.

He smiled and then returned to his room, slipping off his shoes as he moved to crawl into bed. He wrapped his arms around Maddie's waist, holding her close to him.

_Again the son of Athena could feel himself gliding on the wind. As he was soaring, he imagined himself at Camp Half-Blood, so as soon as he opened his eyes he was soaring over his old home. As he flew, he felt something drawing him closer and closer to the strawberry fields._

_When he finally arrived there was a flash of pink flowers and then the scene shifted. He was standing at the foot of a large hill, though he had no idea where he was. There was a small group of people, though he supposed that they should have been called a herd since they all had black rams horns that curled gracefully around their ears._

_He noticed that one of the girls, the one that stood in the dead center, had horns that circled further outward, they almost touched the people next to her. As opposed to thick, her horns were thin and curvier than the rest._

_They moved like a cloud of darkness as if they had no physical body at all. They moved towards a group of tourists, making the son of Athena scared as they came closer._

_When they got really close, the scene changed again, causing Fred to sigh in relief. Though instead of being in the future, or even the present, he was back in his mother's old lecture hall. She had her face in another one of her books, though she looked much younger than Fred had ever remembered her. She let out a light snore and her head fell backward._

_Another woman entered the room, this one had blond hair, similar to Fred's and eyes just as stormy as his. The twenty-two-year-old smiled as he realized that the second woman was his other mother, his godly side._

_Athena walked over to Maria and tapped her shoulder lightly, "Maria darling. You've fallen asleep at your desk again," the goddess said with a small smile._

_Maria jolted awake, as she did so her glasses slipped down her nose. "Athena! Dear, you scared me." Athena smiled and then pulled the other woman out of her chair, leading her to another room._

_"I have to leave soon," Athena said, Maria's hands wrapped around her own. Maria nodded and looked down at her hands._

_"I know," she whispered in a voice that was almost too quiet to hear._

_"But when I leave, there will be a present for you. Think of it as my way of saying that I will always be with you," Athena said, squeezing Maria's hand one last time before she stood and left the room._

_Maria sat there for a moment before she returned to her office. Athena had left her, and now she was all alone. Fred sighed and rubbed his arm as he thought about how lonely she must have been. When she made a move to sit down at her rather a messy desk, there was an air piercing scream that shredded through the stiff silence._

_Fred sucked in his cheeks as his mother picked up a poorly swaddled baby, she chuckled and then held him close, "So you're what she meant by a 'goodbye' present."_


	2. Cherry Tree

Madeline woke Fred up with the sound of bacon popping on the stove. This made the son of Athena smile as he thought about how well she treated him.

**Madeline, who was already wearing a toga for the senate meeting, noticed Fred was awake and grinned. "Hey," she said, "Breakfast's almost ready."**

**"Alright thanks," yawned Fred, "I'm guessing we don't have to train today?"**

**"Well, _you_ don't," said Maddie, "Have you forgotten, dear?"**

**"Forgotten what?"**

**Madeline stared at him as if he was crazy. "It's your birthday, Fred. You're twenty-three now."**

**"Wow, already?" Fred was stunned. "The year went by so fast."**

Madeline laughed and leaned over to kiss her soon-to-be husband's nose, "I love you so much." Fred moved up so that he could kiss his girlfriend's lips, they stayed like that till a large popping noise from the bacon startled them apart.

**Madeline giggled and adjusted her toga. "That'll be our breakfast," she said, taking the bacon off the stove, "Happy birthday. Oh, and by the way, I think some of the kids from the Fifth Cohort are baking you a cake. Don't tell them I told you though." she winked her hazel eye at him with another giggle and handed him a plate of eggs and bacon. He took it gratefully.**

**"Thanks," he said, kissing his fiance again. She smiled at him and left for the senate meeting, leaving Fred to his thoughts.**

He hummed for a moment as he began to devour his food, he thought about the strange visions that he had had the night before. His mother had been so happy when she found him, even it did mean letting go of his other mother.

When he finished inhaling his food, he moved back to his and Maddie's room, searching through his chest of drawers for his toga. When he found it, he noticed that it was nowhere near where the belt to tie it together would be.

He sighed and then reached for his cord, tying on his toga rather messily, though he knew Madeline would fix it when he got to the senate meeting.

**Fred ran his fingers through his blond hair, trying to decide whether he should comb it or not. He finally decided not to and put on his sneakers, exiting the dormitories kind of nervously.**

**When he reached the Senate House, he looked around for his fiance and finally found her. Madeline met his eye and smirked at his messy toga, then beckoned him over so she could fix it.**

As he moved over to his fiance, he bore a big grin on his face. Madeline shook her head with a small smile and adjusted the toga, pressing back on the older male's shoulder as she saw that he was wearing a T-shirt underneath his toga.

When they had finally all arrived and had sat down, Reyna Ramirez-Arellano and Frank Zhang sat in the center of the room, waiting for everyone to quiet down enough for the meeting to commence.

When everyone was finally settled down, Reyna stood. "Head strategist, tell me what they have decided the issue of Camp Half-Blood."

Fred stood, taking a deep breath he said, "We have decided to send the following, Joe and Marvin, from the Third Cohort, Annabelle, and Molli, from the Fifth Cohort and I was going to take Madeline with me as well, with your permission of course."

Frank cleared his throat and looked over at Reyna, who nodded at the child of Athena's choices.

**Fred grinned. "Then we're all set," he said, "Permission to pack?"**

**Frank chuckled. Reyna rolled her eyes at him. "Go ahead, all of you that are going to be making the trip to CHB. Just be quick; we'd like to go as soon as possible."**

**Fred and the five other chosen half-bloods stood from their seats and exited the Senate House, talking excitedly.**

**"I've never been to Camp Half-Blood," said Molli with a grin, "What do you suppose it'll be like?"**

**Madeline smirked. "It's really awesome," she said, "But the fauns work for the camp there. And we call them 'satyrs' instead of fauns."**

**"We also sort the demigods by who their godly parent is," explained Fred, "we don't have cohorts and barracks and stuff. And instead of tattoos, we get necklaces with beads." he pulled his own necklace out from under his toga to show the Romans. Eight beads, all different colors and with different designs on them.**

**"What's that one about?" Joe asked, pointing to a black bead. Fred's smile disappeared. "That was a sad year," he sighed, "the battle of Manhattan. See the Empire State Building?"**

**"Yeah," the Roman demigods chorused. Madeline jumped into the story. "And the names all around it?" she pointed to her own black bead. All the Romans nodded. Madeline sighed. "Those names are all the people who died in that battle."**

**"That sounds like a horrible fight," Annabelle remarked, squinting at Fred's bead, "Were you in it?"**

**"Everyone was," said Fred.**

Annabelle's eyes widened and she sunk down in her chair, knowing that at that time when she was only ten years old, she was forced to fight alongside with Jason as they stormed the mountain and toppled  _his_ throne.

Molli leaned over and hugged her friend from the side. "We'll be fine," she whispered with a small smile.

**Annabelle smiled at Molli and nodded, grateful for her friend's reassurance.**

When the briefing was over, Fred and Madeline returned to their dorm to begin packing. When they had finished, Maddie pulled her boyfriend out of the door and into the courtyard where they continued to the East gate.

Upon arriving there, Fred noticed that there was a member of their party that he had not assigned. "Who are you?" he asked in a large voice, as he was the one that was leading this, 'quest.'

The girl under the hood only smiled and turned back to the unicorns that she was pampering. Fred shrugged off the bad feeling that was sinking into his stomach and turned back to the rest of the demigods.

**"Alright, kids," he said, rubbing his hands together, "Are we ready to go?"**

**"Yes!" they all cried together, pumping their fists and, for some of them, their Imperial gold weapons. Fred turned to Madeline with a wink and said, "I think they're ready."**

**"Good," she replied, "Let's do this thing."**

The strange girl smiled again before she stepped over to Molli, motioning for her to follow her. Molli did so without hesitation, clambering onto the unicorn when she was brought up to one. The girl did the same to every single one of the questers until every unicorn had two demigods atop its back.

When she was finally on one as well, they headed off. The surroundings seemed to whisk by, making the trip seem like it only took a few minutes when it should when it should have taken a few hours at the least.

**Finally, the unicorns stopped and the strange girl called, "We're here!"**

**One by one the Romans climbed off their unicorns. Fred looked up at Half-Blood Hill and smiled at the majestic sight of the pine tree standing at the top. "We're home," he whispered to his fiance, who squeezed his hand.**

**"Come on, guys," Fred called back to the campers behind him, "Let's go. Just up this hill!"**

**The Romans began to hike up the hill, whispering excitedly. Most of them had never visited Camp Half-Blood and were eager to see what it was going to be like.**

When they reached the top of the hill, the first thing that Fred did was shout, "Help has arrived!" This shout made several campers look their direction, most of them seemed to be in the strawberry field, though their numbers did seem sparser.

Rio and Nora jogged up the hill, sweaty from the sun. They were followed closely behind by Annabeth and Percy, as well as Jason and Piper. Rio flung his arms around his sister, even though they were related and very close, Fred couldn't help but feel jealousy bubbling up inside of his gut.

"We're really glad you guys sent help!" Nora cried, looking at Fred, "Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper have been acting as the camp leaders since they are the oldest." with the last words Nora gave a touch of air quotes along with one of the Janus cabin's famous eye roll.

**"Nora," scolded Piper, suddenly looking perfect and beautiful, "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you have to be rude."**

**"Uhh okay," said Nora, in a daze. Fred hid his smile behind his hand. Piper's charmspeak could be kind of funny sometimes.**

**Jason laughed. "Piper, don't do that," he teased, bumping her shoulder. She winked at him.**

The mysterious girl that had been tending to the unicorns walked up the hill slowly, her hood still covering almost all of her face. She paused for a moment as Nora spotted her and ducked behind Thalia's pine. Fred raised his eyebrow and then watched as his fiance's sister walked sullenly over to her and then threw her arms around the small girl.

"Tanasha!" Nora shouted, the girl's hood fell off and it was none other than Nora's best friend from the Hypnos cabin. Fred sucked in a breath, having these two together for more than an hour would not be good for the already suffering camp.

**Tanasha grinned. "Hi, Nora," she said, "Sorry, I'm on official business today, I can't play pranks or anything at the moment."**

**Nora shrugged. "It's okay," she said, "I don't think anyone could appreciate pranks right now anyway."**

**Fred inwardly sighed with relief. Maddie winked at him as he relaxed visibly, and he winked back.**

**Tanasha unzipped her hoodie and took it off, as the day was getting hot. Her T-shirt read, DEATH BY SARCASM.**

She turned to some of the Greek campers, "Is there anywhere I can put these?" she asked, gesturing to the unicorns. Percy took a step forward with a smile.

"There's a stable down there. Would you like me to show it to you?" he said, is perfectly aware that the young girl had attended the camp before and was just being obtuse. Tanasha stuck her tongue out and then ran down the hill. When she reached the bottom, she stuck two fingers into her mouth and whistled so loudly, Fred was sure that the mortals could hear it too.

**"Look out!" Tanasha called to the group of campers. They all dove to either side just in time to avoid the stampede of unicorns following the call of their mistress. Nora giggled once the unicorns were passed. Rio rolled his eyes at her.**

Fred shook his head and then turned back to the older demigods. The first person he addressed was, of course, his sister. "Annabeth, could you tell me more about what has been happening? I can tell that the numbers at camp have been depleting."

Annabeth nodded and then explained, "It was like it happened overnight. We would always disappear in groups of three. One night we would have three more campers or even visiting mages, and then they would be gone in the morning." Fred nodded as he listened to his sister.

They began to walk down the hill, though the other Romans went to the posts that they had been assigned to the night before. Percy followed behind his girlfriend as did Jason with Piper. Madeline sat on the grass with her siblings on the top of the hill.

When they finally got to where they were going, was when Fred took any notice of where they were. They had arrived at the Big House. Probably to sort out this issue once and for all.

Fred let his breath escape as they entered and he saw how many demigods were sitting around the table. There were only ten when there should have been quite a few more. The demigods included, Clarisse la Rue from the Ares cabin, Piper from the Aphrodite cabin, Annabeth from the Athena cabin, Percy from the Poseidon cabin, Jason from the Zeus cabin, Harley from the Hephaestus cabin, Nico di Angelo from the Hades cabin, Richie from the Iris cabin, and Nicholas Merrill from the Hypnos cabin, though he was asleep.

Having only the children of the Big Three as well as several of the more durable, harder to impress demigods was a bit nerve wracking. Fred took another deep breath and then began to talk, "So there has been a problem with campers disappearing, I got some information upon my arrival but if any of you have any more information that I have not heard, please speak up."

Jason and Percy promptly ignored the other male and began to poke each other with sharpened pencils. Fred rolled his eyes and looked around, when no one raised their hand or even said anything, he carried on, "All we know is that campers are disappearing the trios. Does anyone have paper?"

Annabeth smirked at her brother and brought out a notepad as well as a pencil and pen, which explained where Percy and Jason have gotten the pencils from. Fred nodded in thanks to his sister and then turned back to the group, "Clarisse, who disappeared from your cabin?"

"David, Cecil, and Marco," Clarisse said as she counted them off on her fingers. Fred nodded and then looked at Annabeth.

"The others that have disappeared include Elliot, Quinn, and Sara, on the first night. Hanna, Will, and Coraline, the second night. And Chiron the third night. The campers that Clarisse listed off happened last night. There are also quite a few Valkyries and Einherjar that were staying over that have disappeared." Annabeth said, smacking her boyfriend as he attempted to stick his pencil up Jason's nose.

Fred nodded and then tucked away his note pad, "The demigods are disappearing in couplets of three, someone or something must be sending them on a quest that they never come back from." At the word 'quest,' everyone that had been on the last big quest's shoulders raised. Fred sighed and then sat down again, "But what is it? And where are they going?"

No one answered, making the silence in the room thick before someone came barging into the room. It was a small girl with light brown hair and a wicked grin. "You must come quick! We have found a nest of baby Griffins!" The campers were all out of their seats faster than was imaginable, the only one that remained was the sleeping child of Hypnos.

When they reached the nest of tiny babies, Fred couldn't help but smile. His fiance was standing over the nest with a wide grin on her face, she had placed one of her hands over the smallest baby's head. Fred walked over to the nest and began to look around for signs of predators.

The only signs that he found were some week-old bear tracks. He sighed, knowing that these poor babies had been abandoned. He moved over to Maddie and then placed a hand on her shoulder, "We should bring them back to the big house."

**Madeline nodded and gently picked up the smallest Griffin, who squeaked and started sniffing the daughter of Janus frantically. Maddie smiled. "She's so cute," she murmured, "I'll name her Ara, after my sister."**

**"Good choice," Fred nodded and picked up a bigger Griffin baby. This one sniffed him briefly and started licking his arm. Fred laughed. "This one likes how I taste, apparently," he commented. Madeline snorted with laughter.**

Fred kissed his girlfriend and then they both started heading for the Big House, where they had a room prepared for them. Madeline laughed as they walked, Ara cuddled up in her pink hair.

**"Um," said Clarisse uncomfortably, "How do I get this thing to stop licking me?"**

**Fred glanced back and nearly laughed, the daughter of Ares was holding a large Griffin baby at arm's length but the Griffin was still managing to give her face big wet kisses. Clarisse looked nauseated.**

**"Just hold on until we get back to the Big House," he advised, "I think he likes you."**

**"You think?" Clarisse said sarcastically.**

**Jason walked up, cuddling a tiny Griffin in his arms. "She's quite snuggly," he commented, "What should I name her?"**

**"How about Delilah?" Maddie suggested. Jason considered.**

He nodded as they continued over to the Big House. When they passed by the giant fields of strawberries, Fred stopped. "Hey, Jason," Fred said, looking into the fields with a mystified expression, "How long has that cherry tree been there?"

His finger extended to a large tree that stood dead center of the fields. Its bark was smooth and half of the tree was covered in blossoms while the other half was covered with thick green leaves and rich fruit.

**Jason scratched his head. "I'm not sure," he said, just as baffled as Fred, "I've never seen it there before."**

**"Talking about me?" an irritated female voice said, and an elfish girl materialized from the cherry tree. She had pink hair that looked like they were the petals out of the tree and wore a green dress that lay up against her skin like it was made out of flowers. Her thin arms were crossed.**

**"For one thing, I am _not_ an  _It_ ," she snapped, "I am the all powerful Japanese tree spirit, and my name is Cheri. Why are you here, and why did you bring those horrible creatures within fifty feet of my tree?"**

**"They're just Griffins," protested Madeline, "plus they're babies. They won't harm you."**

"That's what your brother said when he brought his rancid pet up to me," Cheri said, Madeline's smile slipped off of her face when the spirit brought up her missing brother.

"Are you the one that has been taking all of the demigods?" Fred asked with a frown. His Griffin had woken up and was doing all it could to make itself look bigger than it really was.

The dark skinned spirit checked her nails and then looked at Fred with a small smirk, "Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't."

"Give me back my brother you-" Madeline said as she charged at Cheri, who simply sidestepped her, letting her fall into a lump of dirt and leaves.

Fred ground his teeth for a moment before he turned to the wood spirit. "You're coming with us little sprite. Taka needs to talk to you." At the mention of the Japanese magician, Cheri's face paled.

**"Please, no," she whispered. Fred glared. "Begging won't help you, you insufferable creature," he hissed, "Taka _is_ going to talk to you. Now come on."**

**"Please, let me explain," Cheri cried, "My sisters...they're missing. Raimu and Remon. I need the humans who come to me to help find them."**

**"Kidnapping them and making them disappear is a horrible way to do that though," scolded Piper in the sweetest voice possible. For a second, Cheri's eyes glassed over.**

**"Uhh," she said, then blinked. "You can't fool me, charm-speaker. Not for long anyway. I can do what I want."**

**"Yeah, I don't think so," said Clarisse, trying to ignore the constant licking of her Griffin.**

"They didn't disappear though," Cheri said, still trying to resist going with Fred, who had been trying to drag her to where Taka had been staying.

"Then where are they?" Madeline shouted, still sitting in the dirt.

"In my tree," said Cheri in a small voice.

**"How are they in your tree?" Fred asked incredulously, "It's way too small."**

**"Um, it's sort of hard to explain," Cheri said, trying fruitlessly to pull out of Fred's tight grip on her arm. Fred yanked at her and finally dragged her over to Taka, who sighed at her and put his hands on his hips sternly. Cheri gulped.**

**"What do you think, Percy?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend anxiously, "Do you think she's telling the truth?"**

**"How should _I_ know?" Percy shrugged. "I'm not the expert on spirits. I'm the son of Poseidon."**

**"Well, we all know _that_ ," said Annabeth, rolling her eyes, "never mind. You're impossible sometimes."**

**Percy just grinned.**

Fred just rolled his eyes and then began to drag Cheri towards the Big House, at this time she had simply given up trying to get away from him.


	3. Mages and Quests

**The council had met up again shortly after the cherry tree incident. They'd put the Griffins in the stables with the pegasi and the unicorns, which none of the animals minded, which was great.**

**"All right," said Fred, clapping to get everyone's attention, "Order, order. Percy, Jason, _please_ put those pencils  _away_. Thank you. Are we ready to begin again?"**

**"Yes, Fred," was the unanimous reply. Fred grinned, happy to be listened to.**

**"Great," he said, "Actually, let's wait for Taka to come back from his little talk with Cheri. He'll be just a moment."**

There was a gentle knock on the door as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Speak of the devil."

Fred opened the door and let Taka in. The small male dragged Cheri in by the wrist. "I told you before!" she shouted, "You have no right to handle me like some second class spirit! I am worshiped! Which is more than you can say!"

**"Shut it. I'm more important than you are. You forget that people ask me for favors and _still_ worship me," Taka said as he shoved her down onto a chair. Her hair was soaked, as were her clothes, making her look even weaker than she already did.**

**Fred sighed and gave Cheri a stern look. "Shut up, Cheri," he scolded, "let's begin this meeting. Annabeth?"**

**"Thanks, Fred," the blonde said, stepping to the front of the room. Fred took a step back respectfully as Annabeth took the attention away from him.**

Annabeth cleared her throat and stood, "Cheri, do you want to talk about why you are kidnapping our campers?"

Cheri shook her head and then ducked as Taka looked at her angrily, "I told you before. My sisters are missing. I needed those demigods to find them for me. This is about as far away from my tree as I can be."

**"You could have just _asked_ people to help you," Annabeth said. Cheri sighed. "I tried that," she said, "People just refused. So I started taking them, forcing them to the quest."**

**"You can't just do that!" shouted a furious-looking Madeline, "You took my brother and his friend! Where are they?" she sounded almost in tears.**

**"I already told you, they are in my tree," said Cheri, "Looking for my sisters. Just like all the others. The Valkyries are the best at finding, but even _they_ have come up empty-handed. It's infuriating."**

"Why didn't you ask Taka? And why haven't you let them come back yet?" Madeline asked with an angry growl.

"I took them so that they could help me, by the laws of my magic I cannot return them until they have completed the mission I sent them on. Or until someone other than them complete it." Cheri said.

The rest of the demigods looked to Taka to see if she was lying. "She's not lying. That's how all magic works for spirits like us. And we've known it since the gods trained us. Haven't we  _Princess Cheri_?" Taka said, leaning into the smaller girl. Cheri squeezed her eyes closed in fear.

There was a loud thump as Percy fell backward into a Unicorn pen, though he raised his hand up and asked a question directly after, "What do you mean by 'Princess'?"

Taka sighed and Cheri whimpered. "Why don't you explain how spirits work?" Cheri shook her head, looking down at her lap with a morose expression.

Finally, she sighed and then explained, "Spirits are divided into five different categories. Fruit, Fire, Water, Air, and Vegetable. There were originally four, as Fruit and Vegetable were one in the same, known as Earth, but that is a story for another time. I was born right around the time of the separation. Which was when there was a war that divided the land, spirits that once lived in harmony were now separated forever more. I-I was made Princess, as my mother was Queen. I rule over all Cherry Trees. My sisters Remon and Raimu are like me though they rule over Lemon and Lime trees. Taka is King of the River spirits though he serves under the goddess Bishamonten."

Taka nodded in approval and then turned back to the now silent demigods.

**"Well," he said, "does that make sense?"**

**The demigods all blinked as one. Annabeth nodded uncertainly. "Um, yes, it does," she said, "but why are we suddenly talking about spirits? We were originally discussing Cheri's questers, weren't we?"**

**"They're closely related subjects," Cheri protested.**

Annabeth shook her head before they continued on with the discussion. "What if you chose demigods from the camp, who were willing to go on this quest for you?" Fred suggested.

"That would be best. Are you offering son of Athena?" Cheri's voice was smooth and a little frightening. Taka squeezed her shoulder in warning and she backed down.

"If you would allow me to learn more about this and go with my fiance if she were to agree, then I would gladly go on a quest for you," Fred said, his hand grasping Madeline's.

**Maddie smiled at him. "Of course I'd go if I could be with you," she said. Rio noticed them and mimed gagging noises. Nora giggled. Fred rolled his eyes at the two children of Janus.**

Cheri stood, her pink blossom dress billowing around her. "Then it is settled. Tomorrow morning I will see you off to find my sisters." Taka looked at her wearily and then took her by the arm, dragging her out of the building.

The next morning, Fred was woken up by a small calico cat on his chest. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

**The cat looked at him grumpily. "Wake up," It said in a girl's annoyed voice. Fred raised an eyebrow, thoroughly confused now. "Um, how can you talk?" he asked, "You're a _cat_."**

**"That's what I like people to think," the cat said with a smirk. Then she hopped gracefully off his bed. Halfway to the floor, she morphed into a human, a pretty teenage girl with mottled red, black, and white-blond hair and green eyes. She was really thin, much thinner than Fred had ever seen. Her face would have been supermodel-gorgeous had she not been wearing a scowl. Her face was stained with tears.**

**"I'm Sara," the cat-girl said, "Taka said to wake you up. It's almost time to go."**

**Fred nodded and got out of bed, holding out a hand to help the small teen girl up. She just turned her head to the side and turned back into the calico cat. Fred shrugged and walked out of the room, holding the door open for Sara.**

**The cat gave him a proud glance and hopped onto the windowsill. "I'll wait for you here," she said loftily. Fred shrugged again, closing the door behind him.**

**The sun was already climbing higher and higher in the sky. No clouds impeded its warmth and light, making for a glorious day. Fred breathed in the summer air with a smile. He loved being outdoors on days like this.**

**"Fred? Oh good, you're ready." Madeline, who had run up to him, linked her arm through his and smiled. Fred winked at her.**

She giggled and there was the sound of gagging from Rio, who did not look amused. Madeline stuck her tongue out and then looked over at the third camper that Cheri had picked out to go on the quest with them.

"Everyone!" Cheri said, clapping her hands together, "This is Donna. I have chosen her to go on the quest with these two lovely people."

Donna nodded her head, letting her brown hair fall in front of her eyes, which were a deep golden color.

**Cheri grinned. "Then let's get to work!"**

**Madeline raised her hand. Cheri looked at her expectantly. "Yes, Madeline?" she asked the twenty-year-old demigod.**

**"Will we be able to see other demigods working to find your sisters?" she asked, and Fred knew she was hoping for at least a glimpse of Elliot. Cheri thought for a moment. "I'm not sure," she said, "Probably, though."**

Madeline took a deep breath and then grabbed her lover's hand. Fred looked at her and smiled. Donna rubbed her arm where scars littered all over her pale skin.

**"Let's go," Donna said confidently. Fred and Madeline echoed her. "Let's go."**

**The weirdest part was getting into Cheri's tree. It felt like they were just climbing a regular tree, but Cheri assured them they would end up somewhere else. Still, Fred was _not_ prepared for the lurching jump and the hard landing.**

**"Ow," he muttered, getting up slowly. Luckily, nothing felt broken. Madeline and Donna materialized next to him and fell to their knees as he had done.**

**Once the girls were on their feet, Donna looked around. "Where are we?" she asked, "This doesn't look like camp anymore."**

**"You're right," said Fred, looking around, too, "What _is_ this place?"**

**"Looks like a forest to me," Madeline said, pointing around the trio, "with...um, strangely placed trees."**

**"It looks like something out of _The_   _Maze Runner_ ," Donna said with a grin, "Sweet, let's go."**

Donna began to walk, though she walked straight into a rock that made a sickening crack sound echo through the forest-like world. Madeline's face turned green as she watched the child of Hebe calmly set her leg. Fred sucked in a breath and ran over to her, but by the time he got there, her leg had already healed itself.

**"Don't worry about me," Donna said nonchalantly, "Let's just work on finding Remon and Raimu. This shouldn't be too hard, should it?"**

**"Um, don't say that," said Fred, "You'll make it harder."**

**"Getting a little superstitious, are we?" Donna giggled, standing up with no trouble and putting the tree next to her, "Come on lemon and lime trees? They'll look totally different from these other ones."**

Madeline sighed and began to walk towards the forest. As they walked deeper and deeper into the woods, the forest seemed to get darker and darker. Fred shivered, maybe this would be harder than he thought.

When they delved even further into the trees, he began to notice a shadow moving along the trunks. It did not move like it was human, it moved as if it was stuck in a form that it was not usually in. He cleared his throat and made a warding symbol at the figure, hoping that doing so would dispel the monster-like creature.

When the shadow did not dissipate, Fred sucked in a breath and placed his hand on the handle of his crossbow, ready to access it if the shadow came closer.

**Luckily, it did not seem intent on stalking the three demigods--or was that only Fred's imagination? Either way, this thing made him nervous. Donna seemed to have noticed it, too, but Madeline still hadn't seen it.**

"Rah!" a small voice shouted as something jumped out from behind a strange looking tree. Fred took out his crossbow and readied a bolt, expecting there to be something larger in front of them.

Donna cocked her head to the side and looked at the small child in front of them. "I said, RAH!" she tried again, making her hands look like claws.

Madeline walked over to the small brown skinned child. She scooped her up and placed her on her hip. "You need to do more than that to scare me, little one. I grew up around small children."

Fred smiled at his fiance.

"Do you want me to grant you a wish or somethin'?" the spirit asked. Madeline shook her head.

"I don't want you to tell me that, but you could tell me your name," she offered.

"Abokado," the little girl said, toying with her green dress.

**"Let me guess," Fred said, "You're an avocado tree?"**

**The tree spirit giggled. "Yeah," she said, "avocados are great, don't you agree?"**

**"Um," said Madeline, who hated avocados, "That depends on who you ask."**

**"I love avocados," Donna offered. Fred nodded in agreement. Abokado giggled again. "Why are you in here?" she asked.**

**"We're looking for a lemon tree and a lime tree," Donna explained, "Their names are Remon and Raimu. Have you seen them?"**

"Why are you looking for my big sisters?" Abokado asks with a worried expression. "Mama said that they were fine, so did Daddy."

Fred sighed, "Your sister Cheri is worried about them is all, I'm sure they'll be fine when we find them." The words came out calmly, as though he were also trying to convince himself that they would be okay when they found them.

"I can help you!" Abokado said with a bright smile. Her leafy hair swayed with the wind, making her look close to angelic.

Fred looked wearily at the small spirit, worried that she might cause or get into harm while they quest-ed.

But before he could speak, Donna said, "You can come with us!"

**Fred spluttered. "What?" he asked, staring at Donna in disbelief. The daughter of Hebe crossed her scarred arms. "Well, what do _you_ say we should do with her?" she said defensively.**

**Madeline nodded. "I agree with Donna."**

**Fred huffed. "Fine," he said, "Just keep her out of trouble."**

**"Excuse me, Mr. Grumpy," said Abokado, sounding rather grumpy herself, "I can keep _myself_ out of trouble, thank you very much."**

**"My name is Fred," Fred said, " _Not_ Mr. Grumpy."**

**The avocado tree spirit grinned devilishly. "I can call you what I want," she said, sticking out her tongue at him. Madeline picked up the small girl once more. "Trust me," she said, "you do _not_ want to get on Fred's bad side. He's the son of Athena."**

**"So?" Abokado said, "All that means is that he's smart."**

**"Athena's not only the goddess of knowledge," Donna said with a smile in Fred's direction, "she's also the goddess of poetry, art, and war strategy."**

**"Oh." the little spirit's grin disappeared.**

"Well come on then," Madeline said as she walked further into the woods.

About a mile in, something dropped from the tree, landing in front of them with a sickening crack. The shape was coated in blue slime, the sight of it making Maddie shiver with the remembrance of her missing brother.

**The memory was clear in her head. A normal morning in the Janus cabin...then Elliot had barged in, dripping with sweat and baby-blue slime like this. It was a happy memory, turned sad by the fact that Elliot was nowhere to be seen and hadn't been heard of in a long time.**

**"Maddie, get ready!" Fred shouted, startling Madeline out of her reverie. She took out her longsword, Lonna, in case the slimy thing was hostile. Which it probably was.**

**She remembered what Elliot had said that day. _Chiron had me battle goo monsters in the arena..._ or something along those lines. This was probably one of those goo monsters, though how it was here, Madeline had no clue.**

**Donna narrowed her eyes at the monster. "That thing is dangerous," she said, taking out a dagger and advancing on the gooey thing.**

Fred took a deep breath and loaded his crossbow with heavier duty arrows. He placed the weapon so that it was digging into his collarbone and almost falling into his armpit.

The first arrow sprang from the crossbow, landing the monster dead center in between its eyes. He gasped and fell to his knees as soon as the arrow hit, looking at the monster, all he could see was his now deceased mother. "M-mom?" he asked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Elliot! You're okay!" Maddie shouted though Fred blocked out her voice from then on, focusing in on his mother.

"It's a fake! Come on you guys!" Donna shouted, trying to pry the two older demigods away from the apparitions of their loved ones. Madeline made a move to hug the goo monster, though it moved and she ended up falling into a tree.

Donna gritted her teeth and there was the sound of fabric being shredded, soon Fred felt a piece of cloth fall over his eyes messily. He continued to try to see, though it was near impossible with the strip of orange fabric covering his face.

It was tied almost too tight, after a few minutes of situating, the son of Athena could feel the spell that the monster had cast dripping off of him as if it was the slime from the monster itself.

He heard Maddie struggle as he assumed that the same was being done to her, though he felt like he could see everything in a different format. He looked around, his crossbow was lying forgotten three yards away from where he was currently kneeling.

In front of him, stood the monster, though it was no longer in the form of his mother, rather it was what Donna saw it as. The monster was hunched over like its spine was curved into a perfect arch. Its teeth were much too big for its mouth, especially the bottom row, which stuck out so far that they looked like they had been placed in there by someone else.

Fred shook his head, feeling himself get dragged back into the mortal world, all he could see was orange, but he could hear Donna's breath from four feet away.

"Come after me you big fumbling oaf!" She near screamed, Fred winced at the sudden noise, "Come after me just like you did that day! I'll live and you won't!"

Fred heard a growl and another ear piercing scream. "Donna?" he called into the woods.

"Run! And whatever else you do, KEEP THE BLINDFOLDS ON!" All he could do was nod his head. Madeline stumbled drunkenly into him and he grasped her hand, making them both sprint further into the forests.


	4. Traveling Blind

Fred and Madeline stumbled away from the monster and Donna, though the son of Athena had a feeling that the girl was leading the monster the other way. If she was blinded as they were then she could not run for long. "What was that all about?" Madeline asked when they stopped running for a moment.

**"I don't know," Fred panted, trying to catch his breath, "something...about illusions?"**

**"You're the smart one," Madeline said, folding her arms, "I'm just the crappy daughter of Janus."**

**"You're not crappy," Fred protested, "you're beautiful. And smart. And witty. And..."**

**"Okay, I get it," Madeline laughed, "Let's keep going. Maybe Donna will catch up to us?"**

**"Doubt it, she ran the other way."**

"And you certainly do not have time to mourn," a silky smooth voice called from above. Fred and Madeline both pointed their heads towards the sky to look at the person who had spoken, though since they were still blindfolded this was an impossibility.

"Who's there?" Madeline called, brandishing her longsword as if she were being attacked by a swarm of bees.

**The voice laughed. "Don't you worry, dears," it said, "I won't hurt you. Unless, of course, you _want_ to fight me?"**

**"Uhhh, n-no," Fred stammered, "we're not looking for a fight, thank you very much."**

"Shame. I haven't fought anyone since the middle ages. No one's come for me in a long time." There was a thump as the speaker jumped from the tree onto the earth in front of them.

"Came for you? What do you mean by that?" Madeline asked, sheathing her sword as best she could.

"You're trying to put your sword in the wrong spot, sweetie," the voice said, almost kindly, "Move it a little to the left. There you go."

**Fred heard a soft _shink_ as Lonna slid smoothly back into its scabbard. The stranger chuckled softly.**

**"Who are you, anyway?" Fred asked boldly.**

"I am a river spirit. I was sent into this realm by my king some time ago, let's see what era is it now?" she spoke with a calm, rather bored tone.

"Uh, 2017?" Madeline asked though she sounded a little unsure.

"Near 2,000 years ago then," the voice said, "he sent me in here to finish a quest that was impossible for river spirits to complete. But! Now that you have come, you can do the quest and release me from this prison!"

**"Uh," said Fred, "We're not here to release you. At least, that's not our quest. We're here to save two tree spirits named Remon and Raimu. Seen them?"**

**"No," said the river spirit mournfully, "I have not. Which is the reason why I am still here, you know, in this odd reality of monsters and spirits. You will finish the quest, right?"**

**"We hope to," Madeline said bravely, "otherwise we would be stuck here virtually forever."**

**"Well," said the spirit, "If you want to continue on your quest unhindered by those unsightly blindfolds, I need you to go on a different quest for me. Okay?"**

**"Depends on what it is," Fred said, suspicion making him jittery.**

**The spirit laughed before placing her hand on the underside of his chin, lifting it up slightly, "All you need to do my darling, is find the largest river in this land, and catch the golden herring."**

**"Won't that take too long?" Madeline asked doubtfully, "I mean, a golden herring can't be easy to find."**

**"I will give you my help as much as possible," the spirit said, "but I won't be able to do much since it's too dangerous here for me to join you. Are you okay with that?"**

**"Uh, all right," Fred said, "What do you think, Maddie?"**

**"I think it's just grand," Madeline said sarcastically, "I just have one question."**

**"Ask away, dear," the river spirit chuckled, ignoring Maddie's sarcasm.**

**"What's your name?"**

"Names have power, darling, if a spirit gives you their name, as long as they know what it is, you have the ability to control them," the spirit said before she carried on.

"To find the largest river, you must go eight days South and five days North. No more no less. Do not just try to go three days South, the magic will not allow you to do that and still find the river. There will be another spirit that will try to get you to sit with her, whatever you do, don't listen to her. You'll figure out the rest as you go."

**"This is sounding better by the minute," Madeline muttered, if it were possible, even more sarcastically than before. Fred silently agreed, but after a quick thinking, he said aloud, "It sounds good to me. Let's do it, maybe we'll find Raimu and Remon on our way or something."**

The spirit laughed before she turned them in the right direction and said, "Don't stop walking until you know it's night."

Madeline sighed and grasped her fiance's hand within her own. They both started walking at an even pace, knowing that there was probably something waiting for them just down the path.

**But as they kept walking, they didn't feel, smell, or hear anything out of the ordinary. So they walked on, following the spirit's advice even though they were still suspicious.**

**Much, much later, Fred finally whispered to his fiance: "I think it's night now. The crickets have started."**

**Madeline squeezed his hand to let him know she had acknowledged what he'd said, then crouched down, feeling with her hands for a good resting spot.**

Fred felt around, searching for their bag. Madeline's hand copied his movements, searching for the same thing.

"Who had the bag, last honey?" Maddie asked with a calm voice.

"I did," Fred said, reaching around to grasp the pack that had been on his back the entire time.

"Then where should it be?" Madeline asked with a small smile, not knowing that he had already found it.

**"S'okay," he said, "I found it. It was on my back."**

**She smiled wider, though she knew he couldn't see it. "Duh," she said, "How stupid of us to forget."**

**"I know," Fred laughed, sliding the straps off his shoulders and feeling around for the zipper. When he found it, Maddie heard the sound of the zipper coming undone and felt for the bag, sticking her hand inside. Her hand wrapped around a granola bar. "Ugh," she said, "these things are gross, whose idea was it to bring them?"**

"Rio packed the bag, you know we should never trust your brother," Fred said, sighing as he wove their free hands together, interlocking their fingers, "At least we have food."

Madeline hummed and moved closer to her fiance, leaning into him with a small smile. "You're right." Fred smiled and grabbed one of the water bottles from the bottom of the bag, as well as a throw blanket, they knew for sure that the sun had gone down now as both young adults were freezing.

**"Let's get some rest," Fred murmured, "I get the feeling we'll need it in the long days ahead." he kissed his fiance and lay down on what felt comfortingly like a bed of moss, he loved sleeping on beds of moss as they were so soft. He heard Madeline lay down next to him, and he smiled as he drifted off to sleep.**

When Madeline woke up the next morning, it was blazing hot. Maddie creased her brow in worry. "Fred?" she asked, shaking her fiance awake.

"Are you okay?" Fred asked as he sat up, his shirt was already drenched with sweat.

"I'm fine," Maddie said as she moved her head over to where the blanket was lying. She grabbed it with her sweaty hands and began to fold it messily.

**"Why is it suddenly so hot?" Fred asked, touching his damp purple shirt, "It feels like the middle of summer in, I don't know, Hawaii or something."**

**"Ecuador?" Madeline suggested, finding the backpack and clumsily stuffing the blanket and the other stuff inside it, "Don't ask me why. I know about as much as you do."**

**"That's a comforting thought," Fred muttered.**

"We have to keep walking if we ever want to get out of here," Madeline said as she stood slowly and unsteadily.

"Yeah," Fred muttered as he stood and grasped his girlfriend's hand if they couldn't see each other, physical touch was the only way that they could make sure that the other was still there.

**Wiping the sweat off their faces, the twosome began to walk, feeling their way using all the different trees. Sometimes a nymph or a tree spirit would say something angry to them, but Fred and Madeline usually ignored their 'colorful' language and kept walking, weakened considerably by the boiling hot climate.**

"Dears," a kind voice called at them from the side of the road. Madeline squeezed Fred's hand to tell him that they should just continue to walk.

"Come and sit with me under my sunshade, you have time," the voice called out again. The offer was tempting, they had both been walking all day out in the scorching sun. Both we near certain that they had blisters covering their feet. The spirit had said to keep walking, all day, even if they were exhausted, they wanted to get out of this realm more.

"Fred, don't go, for all we know she doesn't even have a sunshade," Madeline said, tugging her boyfriend along.

**"B-but," said Fred, nearly panting from thirst and heat, "She sounds so... so nice. Just a few minutes?"**

**"NO," Madeline said firmly, near dragging him to keep him from wandering towards the voice. Fred finally relented and walked beside his girlfriend, though he did turn his head back once or twice forlornly.**

**"You can't even see her," Madeline said crossly, "Why do you trust someone you can't even see?"**

**"I trust you," Fred countered, "and I can't see _you_."**

**" _Touche,_ " his girlfriend replied, and he could almost hear her eye roll, "But you've  _never_ seen her, whereas you've seen me plenty of times. Get my drift?"**

Fred nodded and continued to walk, both of them blocking out the woman's voice as she continued to call to them.

When the night finally arrived, both demigods were exhausted yet again. Madeline collapsed onto the ground and pulled her feet into her, groaning with pain. "Only six more days, love," Fred said as he pulled his lover into his lap, kissing her cheek tenderly.

"Don't remind me," she whispered, turning her head so that she could kiss him fully.

**"Ick," said a little voice, "I hate it when you guys do that."**

**Maddie and Fred jerked apart, startled and surprised. "Abokado?" Madeline said, "Where have you _been?_ I don't even remember losing you but you definitely weren't with us yesterday."**

**"I snuck off after Donna put on your blindfolds," the avocado tree spirit explained, "I was keeping safe. Now I've found you again! Um, where are we going?"**

**Fred wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Abokado that information or not. She seemed like a sweet little girl, but Fred didn't fully trust her yet. She still hadn't proved herself.**

"I thought that Donna had you," Maddie said, moving in her boyfriend's lap.

"Donna, she was being chased by the big scary monster," Abokado said while making growling noises.

Maddie smiled and reached her arms out, "Come here little one." Fred groaned as the extra weight was placed on his already aching thighs.

Madeline slid off of his lap and began to weave her fingers into the small girl's leaf-like hair.

**Fred winced and rubbed his legs. "Never do that again," he scolded his girlfriend, "That _hurt_."**

**"Okay, sorry dear," Madeline said absently. Fred heard Abokado giggle and wondered what was so funny.**

"I saw my sister, just so you know," Abokado whispered, leaning into Madeline slightly.

"You saw Remon and Raimu?" Fred said, jumping up and then collapsing again.

"No, I saw Momo," she whispered, "And she wasn't okay. She-she was lying on the ground and there was Ivy all over her, it looked like she had been asleep for so long. I went up to her and she wasn't moving. Di-did my sister d-die?"

**"Who's Momo?" Madeline asked, "I mean, what kind of tree is she?"**

**The little tree spirit's voice trembled. "She's a peach tree," she said, "my favorite sister. She's only a few hundred years older than me."**

**"Wait, a few _hundred_?" Fred asked in disbelief. Abokado giggled, though it sounded rather forced. "I'm kidding," she said, "She's five years older."**

**"Oh okay," said Fred, "because I didn't think either peach trees or avocado trees lived that long."**

**"Can we get back to her original question now," Madeline said, "she's worried about her sister. How can we help you, sweetie?"**

"I don't wanna be selfish," the four-year-old spirit said, her voice shrinking down.

"You're a little kid, almost nothing you can do would seem selfish," Maddie said as she began to bounce Abokado up and down on her knee.

"Could you help me find her again and see if she's okay?"

Fred chuckled and moved closer to the two females. "We can definitely do that for you," he said, placing a calloused hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.

**"Thank you so much," Abokado said, relief thick in her voice, "I'm so worried for her. Although, if you can't see... can you take those blindfolds off?"**

**"Not until we reach our destination and fulfill requirements," Madeline said, sounding smart as usual, "We met a river spirit along the way who's going to help us."**

**A humid wind ruffled Fred's blond hair as if to say _I'm still here, and I can hear every word you're saying. Don't forget about me._**

**"Oh, you mean Nami?" Abokado asked, "She's been here for years, waiting for someone to catch the golden herring. So you're going to do that?"**

**"Yeah," Fred said, "it's just a stupid sidequest, or at least it would be if we didn't benefit so hugely from it. We _have_ to do this."**

There was a yawning sound, and Abokado said, "I'm gonna go to sleep now."

Fred smiled, he began to dig around in his backpack, bringing out the blanket for earlier. The three of them snuggled up under the tree and cuddled together.

The next few days went by without much happening, Abokado rode on Fred's shoulders most of the time as she weighed a mere three pounds, she would tell the two wild and scary stories, both would pretend to be frightened and then have to cuddle up with the small girl.

**On the fifth day since parting ways with Donna, a strange and truly frightening thing happened: they were apprehended by a squirrel.**

**Not just any squirrel, mind you; a _giant_ squirrel. And this one was  _pissed._**

"Run for it!" a squeaky but definitely male voice shouted.

"Tomato?" Abokado asked, confused.

"Go, find them they'll help! Maddie knows what I'm talking about, tell Gurepu that I love her!" the voice said, there was a sound of a whip and then all was silent.

"Keep walking," the river spirit's voice said, carried on a damp breeze.

Fred nodded and put one foot in front of the other, carrying on his way.

**The squirrel howled after them, and insults spoke to Fred's mind, depressing him. _Madeline doesn't love you_ , the squirrel taunted,  _She's going to ditch you at the first opportunity_.**

**Fred heard a soft sob next to him, from Maddie, and knew she was having similar thoughts. He didn't know what to make of the squirrel's comment on Madeline's love for him, he was still sure she liked him. Despite an odd urge to curl up on the ground and cry himself to sleep, Fred forced himself to keep walking.**

"It's so mean!" Abokado cried, her tears felt thick in Fred's hair as they ran down the back of his neck.

"That's what it's trying to do," Madeline said, taking her off of Fred's back, saving the poor male from the disgusting experience. She placed the small girl on her hip and then continued to run, though she had never stopped walking the entire time.

"Why is it saying all these things? Do you guys really hate me that much? I know Mommy and Daddy never liked me but I thought that you guys were nice!" Abokado sobbed, Madeline cradled her and kept running.

"That's just what the squirrel wants you to think. We both love you very much," Maddie said, almost tripping over a tree branch as she ran.

**"Maddie's right," Fred said, "We love you. I don't know about your parents but, I don't think that matters anymore. We'll act as your loving, caring parents, okay?"**

**"Okay," Abokado said, "I've always wanted parents who loved me."**

**_That's so sad,_ Fred thought, though he didn't say it aloud.**

**When the horrible screams of the squirrel had faded, the three of them slowed to a walk. Abokado started chattering away, her sadness gone for the moment.**

**"So, my friend Tomato said that we should find 'them', right?" she said, then without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Well, 'them' is someone I think you'll be happy to see. Some people, I should say. You haven't seen them for a while."**

**Madeline's bi-colored eyes widened considerably beneath her blindfold. "Are these who I think they are?" she asked, hope was thick in her voice. Abokado giggled. "That depends on who you're thinking of," she replied.**

**"Who is she talking about, honey?" Fred asked, taking the small spirit into his arms to give his girlfriend a break.**

**"I'm not sure exactly," Madeline said, "Is it...Elliot and his friend, the child of Lilith? Whatever his name was?"**

**"Quinn?" Abokado giggled again. "You'll have to see for yourselves. Oops, wait, you can't see. You'll have to listen hard then."**

**Fred almost sighed in exasperation. Abokado might just be a little kid, but she could be so secretive and annoying.**

Abokado giggled and then squirmed in Fred's arms, trying to reach for something just out of her reach. "What are you doing kid?" he asked, moving her so that she could get whatever it was that she wanted.

**"Kitty!" she yelled, cuddling the small creature as she now had in her arms. Madeline laughed and leaned over to kiss her now daughter.**

**"Uh," said Fred uncomfortably, "Can you maybe take her, Maddie? I'm sort of allergic to cats."**

**"Oh, sorry dear," said Madeline, taking Abokado from her soon-to-be-husband's grip, "I don't think Abokado knew that. _I_ certainly didn't."**

**"It's okay," Fred said, "I don't think I've ever told anybody."**

**"But what about when Sara woke you up before we went?" Madeline said worriedly, "Did you get a reaction?"**

**"No, she wasn't on top of me long enough," Fred explained, "Thank goodness I was wearing a T-shirt and she didn't dig her claws in."**

Madeline shuddered and then took Abokado as well as the cat as they continued to walk through the now almost silent woods.

When night fell, the cat had perched itself in Maddie's hair, much to her daughter's distaste. "Sleep time, little one," Maddie said as they sat down on the stump of an old tree.

"'Kay," the sleepy girl said, "Goodnigh' Mama, goodnigh' Daddy."

**Madeline smiled. Abokado was such a cute little tree spirit.**

**As the daughter of Janus lay down to sleep, she thought about what it would be like to be called Mama by someone. It was definitely something new, and Maddie decided she was going to like it.**

**"Goodnight, Fred," she murmured, her mismatched eyes slipping closed behind the orange blindfold. She just had time to hear Fred say, "'Night, Maddie." before she fell asleep.**

The next few days went by just as the first few had, even though they were running rather low on supplies. "Guess what," Fred said, bouncing on the balls of his feet as they walked.

"H'm?" Madeline replied, holding Abokado's hand as they walked.

"We have one more day before we reach the river," Fred said, happy that they were so close to being able to see again.

**He could almost see Madeline smile. "That's wonderful," she said, for once without a trace of sarcasm in her voice, "I can hardly wait."**

**"Me too," Abokado said, "we're almost to your--um, I mean, 'them'."**

**Fred had a suspicion that Abokado had almost said 'your brother'.**

**"Yeah, I wonder if you'll be so kind as to _tell_ us who you're talking about," Madeline said, her sarcasm returning. Fred smiled.  _That_ was the Maddie he knew and loved.**

"Gee, I thought that you would be happier to see me. Maybe we should just go back, Quinn, they don't want us here," Elliot said, though he had been keeping quiet for gods know how long.

"Sheep Man!" Abokado screeched, trying to pull out of her adoptive mother's grip.

**Madeline yelled. "El?" she said in disbelief, "How long have _you_ been here? Why didn't you tell me? Oh, my gods, you've been missing for  _so_ long, I've been so worried about you!"**

**Fred could almost hear Elliot's eyes rolling. "Sis, don't worry," he snorted, "I'm not twelve anymore. I'm fifteen, I can go where I want!"**

**"You're still my baby brother," Maddie retorted, "and you always will be. You just disappeared without a word!"**

**"That's sort of the point of going on a quest for Cheri," her younger brother said, "She just takes you. So, did she nab you too?"**

**"Also," said a different boy's voice, "why are you wearing blindfolds made from Camp Half-Blood T-shirts?"**

**"Long story," Fred said, "for both of the questions. Um, how long have you been tailing us? You never answered Maddie's question."**

**"Only a few minutes," said the other boy, who Fred assumed was Quinn, "otherwise your avocado tree here would have noticed us."**

**"One more question," said Madeline, "why did Abokado call you 'Sheep Man'?"**

"So you really can't see through those blindfolds," Quinn said, "The reason that she called me 'Sheep Man' is because normally I would be able to hide them, but this world likes to take away magic. I have ram's horns."

"'Sheep Man,'" Elliot laughed so hard that it sounded like he was doubling over with laughter, even though the group was still walking.

"Shut it. Have you talked to the water Lilies yet?" Quinn asked.

"Water Lilies?" Fred asked. In his arms, Abokado shivered and whimpered slightly, obviously not happy.

"So, no? That's good. If you had, I wouldn't have been able to do this," the son of Lilith said, moving behind the older duo. He reached up and hit them both on the back of the head, as one might do to a sibling.

"What the heck?" Madeline said, gasping as her eyes fluttered open and actually saw something for the first time in ten days.

**"What did you just _do_?" Fred asked, "Dude, that was really weird."**

**Madeline turned and looked at Quinn. He did indeed have ram's horns, two curly, black horns sprouting out the sides of his shaggy black hair. He wore a black leather jacket and black jeans, fingerless gloves were on his hands. He wore a smug look on his face.**

**"I just magicked your eyes so monster illusions won't work," the son of Lilith explained, "and then I took off your blindfolds. See?" he held up two strips of orange cloth that had indeed been ripped off of a Camp Half-Blood shirt.**

**Madeline smiled, then turned back to her brother. Fred looked too and saw a familiar-looking Elliot standing there with a similar smirk to his friend's.**

**"El!" Madeline cried, nearly crushing Elliot in a hug, "What happened to your hair?"**

**Fred blinked and noticed that Elliot's hair _did_ seem a bit longer than usual. The fifteen-year-old son of Janus grinned. His bi-colored eyes twinkled. "I grew it out," he said, "Like Quinn's hair."**

**Madeline sighed. "You'll have to get it cut when we get back to camp," she scolded her brother, "You're such a weirdo."**

**"Thank you," Elliot snickered. Abokado joined in his laughter.**

"We can't follow you any further," Quinn said, placing a hand on Elliot's much-too-skinny shoulder.

"I thought that we should do it anyway, but Mister 'Sheep Man' over here said it would put your quest in peril."

Quinn just rolled his eyes and moved his friend's shoulder and began to drag him away.

**"I'll text you," Elliot called. Madeline rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. She knew perfectly well that Elliot could _not_ text her because he didn't have a phone. Neither did she. Fred just smirked and shook his head; Elliot was such a goofy kid.**


	5. Finally Over

"The river!" Abokado shouted, pointing at a small stream. Fred buried his face in his hands and then crouched down, allowing his legs to rest from the walking that they had just endured.

"That's not a river honey," Madeline said, putting her daughter down and crouching down next to her soon-to-be husband.

"But Mama! I know that this is the river you want! I just know it," she said, looking rather dejected.

**Fred sighed. "You've said that about every single stream we've passed, sweetheart," he told the little girl gently, "even if it's just a trickle of water. You need to look for a big, wide river, not a little, skinny stream like this one." he gestured at the little stream in front of him. His adopted daughter sighed and put her little hand in the water. "There _could_ be a fish in here," she muttered, "you never know."**

**"Let's just keep going, Abbie," said Madeline. Abbie was a nickname she'd just barely started calling the little spirit, who loved it. Fred took his daughter onto his back and stood up with a groan. "Keep walking," he sighed, and Madeline chuckled. The pair exchanged a smile, then restarted their long hike.**

**"Daddy, is that what you mean?" she asked, pointing to a stream that had appeared next to them. Fred turned to look, his eyes widened as he saw a river completely made out of fish, there was no water, just a river sized stream of fish.**

**"Uh, I guess it is," Madeline said, surprised, "good eye, Abbie."**

**Abokado beamed with pride, squirming slightly on Fred's back. "Hey," the son of Athena protested, "you're going to knock me over."**

**"Uh, Fred," said Madeline suddenly, "is the river whispering?"**

**Fred stopped. Suddenly he could hear a faint voice. He listened hard and finally made out words. _The golden herring hides within, but once you catch it, one person you know will die. This is your warning. Proceed at your own risk._**

**Fred blinked. Madeline paled. Abokado stopped giggling. The three of them were still as if Medusa had turned them to stone. _One person you know will die..._**

**Finally, Madeline looked up at Fred, who was pale. She touched his shoulder. "If you don't want to do this," she said, "we don't have to."**

**"No," said Fred, "we have to do this. It's the only way to free Nami."**

Madeline chewed on her lip, nervous about who would die if they were to find and contain the golden fish. She set her daughter down on the ground and waded into the fish, her boyfriend and daughter followed with her.

**After a short time, Abokado yelled, "GOT IT!" she held up a clenched fist with a shiny gold fish trapped inside. It wriggled twice and then fell limp.**

**Different words whispered from the sea of fish. _You have got the fish, now one of your friends will pay. Go now, run, and you might catch him before he expires._**

**"Who?" Madeline whispered, terrified. The voice paused, then whispered, _Quinn Nightingale._**

**Abokado gasped and began to cry. Fred took the golden herring from her so she wouldn't drop it.**

**"N-not Sh-Sh-Sheep Man!" she cried, "P-please!"**

**"Come on, Abbie," Fred said, "We have to go." he picked up his daughter and climbed out of the fish river, pulling Madeline up after him. Her face was stark white with shock. All Fred could think was, _Quinn is going to die_.**

**It didn't take long for the threesome to find Elliot, kneeling on the ground and sobbing. His platinum-blond hair was full of twigs, for some reason. Madeline knelt next to him, then saw what he was kneeling beside. Her face blanched again. "Fred," she said, her voice quavering, "we're too late."**

**Elliot cried harder. His sister put a comforting hand around his shoulders, whispering to her brother, although she herself was crying. Her tears were smearing mascara down her cheeks. Fred just stared at the body, in shock. Abokado threw herself on top of the son of Lilith's body, crying her thick tears.**

As they sat crying, they did not notice as Quinn's body began to fade, soon Abbie was just crying into the leaves, though Fred came to pick her up.

"What happened to the body?" he asked fishing tissues out of his pocket for Elliot.

"H-he was brought back to-to his mother, in the Otherworld," Elliot said through sobs of losing his closest friend.

**Fred swallowed back the tears that were threatening and held his family, plus Elliot, close. The four of them cried for a long time, overwhelmed by grief.**

**"Why are you still crying?" said an impossibly familiar voice, "You should know children of Lilith don't stay dead for long."**

**"Qu-Quinn?" Elliot said in disbelief, looking up. His black-and-green eyes were wide.**

Elliot quickly stood and rushed to the black-haired male, "Quinn! You never told me this! You fucker!"

"Sorry," Quinn said, levitating off of the ground by a few feet. "I never thought that I would die."

"Neither did I," Elliot said, burying his face into the crevice of Quinn's collarbone.

**"Did your mother bring you back?" Madeline asked, just as stunned as her brother. Quinn smirked. "Well," he said, "depends on how you think about it I guess. I'm a child of Lilith, so I automatically resurrect once I die. It's a pretty neat power." he shrugged.**

**"Wow," whispered Fred, "that _is_ a neat power. I wish I had that."**

**"Your mom is awesome," Elliot said, "My dad? He's just a weirdo."**

**"I know," said Quinn with a wink. Abokado launched herself at him.**

**"Sheep Man!" she yelled, wrapping herself around his leg. Elliot laughed. Quinn blushed and glared at his friend like _I_ know  _Sheep Man is a stupid nickname, but will you_ stop  _rubbing it in??_**

"Well, isn't that sweet. Now may I have my prize?" Nami asked from the tree. Abokado ducked behind her mother and whimpered at the stronger spirit.

"You need to tell us where to find those trees first," Madeline said, placing her hands on her hips.

Nami blew a strand of hair out of her face, "Just think about them. They still know their names, do you remember what I had told you earlier? You can control a spirit if you know their name."

"Thank you, Spirit Nami. Here is your prize," Fred said, handing it out to the river spirit. She jumped down out of the tree and grabbed the fish. When the now dead animal dropped into her hand, she disappeared.

"Is the scary lady gone now?" Abbie asked. Fred smiled and chuckled, picking his daughter up and swinging her around in the air.

"Yes, little one, she's gone! Mommy and Daddy also know how to find your big sisters now!" He said, his voice full of emotion as he hugged his daughter and fiance close.

"You need to know one thing," Quinn said, Elliot still clinging to him as if the small boy was afraid that he'd lose him again.

"What is that?" Madeline asked butterflies flew around in her stomach as she thought about getting out of the awful place that she was stuck in.

"You need to know how to  _summon_ them," he said, pulling out a piece of chalk from his pocket, he threw it at Madeline. "Draw a circle and have the three of you stand in it holding hands. Say Remon's name three times and she will come, say Raimu's name five times and she will come. If you do it any other way it will not work."

Madeline nodded and drew a circle on the hard, uneven ground. When she was finished the three stood in the circle. Fred and Madeline gripped their daughter's small hands within their own. They clasped each other's hands like they had done so many times before.

**"Now chant the two trees' names ten times," instructed Quinn, "Don't forget to close your eyes and really put your whole self into the words."**

**Fred, Madeline, and Abokado complied and began to chant. "Remon, Raimu, Remon, Raimu, Remon, Raimu..."**

**After ten times, the three of them unclasped their hands and stepped back, opening their eyes. In the circle of chalk stood two young tree spirits. One had lemon-yellow hair and yellow eyes, and the other had lime-green hair and bright green eyes. They were both clothed with leaves, and both were smiling.**

"What did you do," the one with green eyes said, turning to the one with yellow eyes.

"Maybe you did it this time?" Remon said in a silky smooth voice.

"We did it," Maddie whispered, as they were all engulfed by a white light.

**Fred had just enough time to think, _wow, we did this,_ before the light overwhelmed his senses and he passed out.**

**Fred awoke in a warm, soft bed, unsure of how he'd gotten there. He pushed himself up onto his elbows to get a better look around.**

**He seemed to be in the Athena cabin back at Camp Half-Blood. He smiled. It was good to be home.**

**Madeline burst through the door with Abokado, Cheri, Remon, and Raimu. "You're finally awake," Abbie cried, "Daddy!"**

**Fred chuckled. "How long was I out?" he asked his fiance. Madeline smirked. "About a week," she said, "I was starting to wonder."**

**"Sorry," Fred said, embarrassed.**

"The symptoms of being in that kind of an environment are different for everyone," a soothing voice said. He glanced up, there were four girls sitting around the room, all were similar to what Cheri looked like.

"Who-?" Fred began to ask, confused at what was happening.

"We are Princesses Remon, Raimu, Cheri and Ichigo," Cheri said, smiling softly.

"I apologize for any trouble that my sister may have caused," Remon said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"We have also been informed that you would like to keep our dear little sister as your own, thank you for that as well, our mother and father never thought of her as their own and the rest of us are not capable of raising children," the fourth who Fred had never seen before said, kissing her little sister on the forehead.

**"So," said Madeline, "you haven't heard the news yet, Fred."**

**"I want to tell him," Abokado complained. Madeline smiled at the little girl. "Sorry, sweetie," she said, "As his fiance, it's my job to tell him."**

**Abbie pouted but allowed Madeline to speak.**

**"We're going to get married in four days," Maddie squealed, "I'm so excited! The Venus--I mean Aphrodite, sorry-- the Aphrodite children are sewing me a dress, and they already found you a tux!"**

**Fred began to feel a tiny bit of dread. He didn't like wearing tuxedos very much. But his happiness overwhelmed the dread; he was so excited to finally marry the girl of his dreams!**

He leaned up and kissed the pink haired girl, much to their daughter's disgust. "I love you so much," he breathed onto her lips, pleased that they were finally out of that awful place.

"Knock, Knock," a strong female voice said from the doorway.

"Ara," Madeline said, relieved to finally see her sister after all this time.

"Hey big sis," Ara said as she embraced her sibling. "Congrats on the wedding, and don't worry, I'll be there."

"Thank you," Madeline said. Ara looked at Fred with eyes that said, 'I-will-kill-you-if-you-hurt-this-little-cinnamon-bun.'

 **Fred shrugged and shot her a look back that said, 'I-won't-hurt-her-I-promise-because-I-do** n't **-think-I-would-achieve-Valhalla-like-you-did'. At least that's what he intended it to mean, even if it didn't make a whole lot of sense. Ara rolled her eyes at him and grinned. "See you in four days, lovebirds," she said and disappeared.**


	6. Happy Endings

**In Fred's opinion at least, he looked way too stiff and formal in his tuxedo, but Maddie had said it was wonderful. Maybe Fred was just nervous, he hadn't seen his bride in her dress yet.**

"Are you ready?" Gilbert asked, standing beside his best friend at the hastily built chapel at Camp Jupiter, waiting for the wedding to commence. Fred bounced on the heels of his feet, waiting.

Suddenly, the traditional wedding march began and the doors swung open, Madeline entered the chapel, her white wedding dress trailing down the aisle.

There was lace wrapping its way up her neck and then down her hands, where it made a point connecting to her middle fingers. She walked with skilled grace, much to Fred's confusion until he saw that she was wearing her red and black converse sneakers.

**Fred almost facepalmed but resisted the temptation, focusing instead on his bride's beautiful dress, hair, face, and... lips. _Such beautiful lips_ , he thought dreamily.**

When she finally reached the altar, Fred had fallen in love with her all over again. She turned and smiled as she saw their daughter rushing up behind her, carrying a bunch of tulips in her small fingers.

Reyna cleared her throat and began to speak, though Fred couldn't hear much of what the Praetor was saying.  **Maybe it was because he was still staring at Madeline's lips.**

**Finally, he heard Reyna say, "You may kiss the bride," and he smiled. _I've been waiting for this moment my entire life,_ he thought, moving in. Madeline moved in too.**

**Their lips touched, and Fred knew it was totally worth it. Her lips were just as soft as they'd looked two seconds before the kiss.**

It felt like there were fireworks exploding in the room, it was only the two in the universe, just them. They were finally married. Madeline only broke the kiss when their daughter began to pull on her dress. "Mama! Can you pick me up?" she said sweetly, her bouquet lay forgotten on the chapel floor.

"Sure," she said, picking her up. Abokado leaned over and kissed her father on the cheek, then kissed her mother on the same spot. There were cheers and cooes coming from the audience as they watched the small family.

All in all, things finally ended happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Letters
> 
> Dear Readers,
> 
> I can no longer feel half of my brain. It has turned to mush due to all of this sweet crap that I just wrote. I had to write the majority of this half-blind because I was listening to music and couldn't wear both my glasses and my headphones. We were so happy to give them a family, I was so worried that Kat was going to kill their daughter, but instead, she killed my baby. My precious demon baby. Elliot is not amused. I had such a fun time writing this! Though I was trying to do way too much and got a little overstimulated. There is a reason behind why there are only six chapters, listen to nothing that Kat tells you, she lies, the reason is that I wanted to make the chapters the same length that regular authors do, but I think that I failed. I was also having some serious writer's block during the majority of this work. There is also a story behind the plot to this book, I had this weird dream where there was a girl who looked like a tree, she had skin that looked like the bark of a tree and her hair looked like the petals of the flowers that the fruit from the tree grew from. Her dress was made of leaves and her eyes resembled the fruit of the tree in the way that the outer part of the eye looked like the fruit and the pupil looked like the seeds of the fruit. Kat says that I'm the next Stephenie Meyer. I say that author needs to be killed with a Death Note, or at least those books all need to be shot into deep space. TWILIGHT. ISN'T. LITERATURE. We miss you Siax/Charlotte. Thank you for reading, I had a lot of fun writing this.
> 
> Sincerely, Lilly Flower
> 
> Dear Readers,
> 
> If you're wondering about the lips in the last chapter, that was, in fact, my weirdo brother having a weirdo idea. Like always.The lovey-dovey stuff was hard to write, actually, and, like, Lilly, half of my brain is now mush too. So Lilly and I put our heads together so that we have one whole brain between us and we finished the book. Also like always. I was reading the second Magnus Chase book during the middle and end of this book, but I hopefully didn't do any weird Magnus Chase stuff in-story. If I accidentally did without noticing, I am very sorry and you are welcome to file a complaint. Also, no matter what Lilly says, I am NOT a liar and also, Twilight IS literature. I know that for a fact. Sadly, thanks to my half-mush brain, I am unable to write anymore in a letter. So, I will have to close here.
> 
> Sincerely, Kat


End file.
